Dr. Kirsten Schaffer:

I fully agree with Dr. Ryan. Ireland's testing capacity has increased enormously in the last month. I agree that it is not a question of capacity so much as logistics around testing. For example, we had three scientists in the laboratory who had to stay home last week because they were waiting for tests for their children who are in school who had symptoms. One had to wait 30 hours and the other between 48 to 72 hours to get an appointment for the children to be tested. This is just too long. I think we have the testing capacity but we are not well organised around it. Rather than get an appointment to be tested, maybe we need walk-in clinics. The fast and efficient communication of test results is also crucial so that public health can take the necessary steps, as Dr. Ryan noted.